National home price index posts first February decline for 5 years

By Steve RandallFont size :

The two-month break in the downward trend for a national home price index has ended with the largest decline for February since 2013.

The Teranet-National Bank HPI was down 0.13% in February compared to the previous month, after rising in January and December. The index tracks home prices relative to a base value of 100 in June 2005 and in February reached 218.90.

Only Vancouver (+0.4%), Hamilton (+0.2%) and Halifax (+0.8%) recorded gains among the 11 metros surveyed, the lowest number to rise since October 2014.

For Vancouver, it was a 12th rise in 14 months and a record high for its index (285.83) topping off a 5.79% year-over-year rise. Toronto by comparison was up 6.19% year-over-year to 236.22.

The index for Victoria was flat on the month and the other seven component indexes were down: Toronto −0.1%, Montreal −0.3%, Ottawa-Gatineau −0.7%, Edmonton −0.8%, Calgary −0.8%, Winnipeg −1.0%, Quebec City −1.5%.

Year-over-year the Composite 11 index was up 7.54%.

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